Coffee Appreciation

Vegan friend pointed us back to the cafetiere plunger way of prepping non-moo milk. It works surprisingly well for the OB, and regular Oatly, although it is a bit of a faff tbh.

My Gaggia Classic fixed itself. Shrug.

My new toy.

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Any recs for Crystal Palace/Dulwich/South Norwood? Got a placement tomorrow in deep saaarf, and a good coffee stop along the way would make the trip down much more pleasant.

Volcano Coffee Works

Maybe a somewhat tenuous link, but I really recommend seeing this guy.

http://www.roundhouse.org.uk/whats-on/2017/daniel-kitson

For a long time, I had a very reliable, mid level, domestic espresso
machine.

I remember buying it in central London, after a long tour and I
remember struggling to get it out of the boot, telling myself the
weight of it justified the price of it. It went in the kitchen, in the
corner, on its own sideboard and, quickly becoming a large part of my
life, it stayed there for years. I would turn it on in the morning,
before I was even awake, I would hold it for warmth in the winter, and
I would use it every day, more than once, all the time, to make
coffee, not just for myself, but visiting family members, local
friends and a variety of tradespeople.

Then it stopped working.

There were no external signs of damage and I owned a screwdriver. So,
eager to understand how it once worked, eager to quickly pinpoint and
rectify the current problem and eager to rebuild the whole thing
better than before – I dismantled it.

Soon enough the espresso machine was gone, replaced by a functionless
heap of its own constituent parts the nature of which I could neither
identify or comprehend. Faced with this godless sprawl of unknown
components, tangled tubes and what felt like a billion tiny screws, I
let my eyes drift out of focus and waited quietly for understanding to
emerge and expertise to announce itself.

That did not happen.

After forty minutes, I put everything in a pile, on the floor, in the
corner. Then I wiped the table and filled the kettle.

That pile is still on the floor, years later, and I remain not simply
incapable of rebuilding the machine or identifying it’s problems, but
barely able to even remember how this paltry hodge podge of
de-purposed parts, redundant in isolation and gathering dust, could
have once been the interlocking pieces of something that actually
seemed to work.

Well.

This show is like that.

Only it’s not an espresso machine, it’s my understanding of the world.

Anyone got a suggestion for a nice espresso making bean, with good flavours.
Fancy trying something new. Not mad ££.

@StevePeel should be able to help

^^ that's pretty broad

had 2 more bags of red brick run through my home setup since i last posted about it and still haven't had to adjust more than .2g or 1 micro notch on the grinder, still rock solid.

it's witchcraft.

Cheers for the heads up, popped in this morning. Great coffee, and I was sorely tempted by the jerseys/caps... Does anyone know how much they are?

stay outa #wn4l!

The last few red brick blends have been deeeelish too!

Indeed. That's the point. I enjoy trying different stuff.

Just bought some of the red brick seasonal espresso, the tasting notes sound good.

Red Brick for me is almost perfect espresso

#csb

Arrived. Smells beautiful. Look forward to trying.

Not keen on it at all.
Tastes like the trip I'd get if I order an espresso in a hipster joint, not a nondescript Italian cafe. Perhaps just not for me.

because its not completely burnt like a typical "Italian" roast

I've had some really flavourful italian stuff.
I can't put my finger on what it is I don't like (becasue I'm uncouth) but there is a certain flavour to it, that just isn't pleasant for me.
It would make a nice coffee with milk.

It was only roasted 2 days ago, could this be reason. Does it need to sit?

Yeah, it might benefit leaving it for a week to let it calm down. Freshly roasted beans are always more volatile although I wouldn't expect to end up tasting like a standard Italian espresso though as SM flavour description is for hazelnut/almonds/banoffee/creamy.

Yeah, i wasn't expecting anitalian flavour, that was a silly way to express it. This RB, just has a weird flavour, that I've tasted in hipster places, that I don't like. I wish I could put a finger on what it is. Maybe it's the 'hazelnut'.

I love flavour, my favourite bean recently has been the arabica from happy donkey; of which the flavours were delicious. https://www.happydonkey.co.uk/250g-sumatra-mocha-coffee-beans.html

if you want proper dark tasting espresso Union or Monmouth are your guys.

I can't stand either of their espresso blends as it's way too dark roasted for my tastes (I love medium roasted 'hipster' coffee) but sounds like that is exactly what you're after.

Yes, quite possibly. Thought I don't think everything I like is dark roast. That bean I linked above isn't, or maybe it is. I really am far from a connoisseur.
And hipster places wasn't a slight, but a light hearted comment. But whenever I get a coffee in a place with rustic furniture and wooden boarded floor, it tastes like that.

of course, 3rd wave coffee is easily conflatable with what a lot of people consider hipster.

and perhaps darker roast is more apt than simply dark roasted in my previous post.